Hilton abandons jail-term appeal

Paris Hilton won't appeal the 45-day jail term she was sentenced to earlier this month for violating probation, according to court documents filed yesterday. A lawyer for the 26-year-old socialite notified Los Angeles County Superior Court that she's abandoning her appeal. Hilton was ordered to report to jail by June 5 for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. She initially called the sentence unfair, and lawyers representing her filed a notice to appeal. Hilton is likely to spend about 23 days in a "special needs housing unit" at the Century Regional Detention Center in suburban Lynwood, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. The shorter sentence reflects an expectation that she's well behaved behind bars. (AP)

Ike Turner (inset) spent a night in a California jail after he was arrested on a 1989 narcotics warrant that turned out to be invalid, police said. The 75-year-old musician and ex-husband of Tina Turner was spotted on Interstate 405 in the San Fernando Valley about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday night. Police officers saw his 2002 silver Mercedes-Benz S-50 doing more than 80 miles per hour and straddling lanes, officer April Harding said yesterday. The car was stopped after it left the freeway , and officers ran a check for warrants, which is routine, Harding said. They found he had an old felony narcotics warrant and Turner was arrested and booked into a downtown jail, Harding said. "He had court yesterday, and I guess that they deemed it was an old warrant that was never removed from the system," Harding said. (AP)

Fox will set a police drama in post-Katrina New Orleans in the fall and turn Fridays into music night with the "American Idol" spinoff that tries to confer stardom on a band, not just a singer. Sitcom veterans Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton (both at right) will co star as news anchors for a Pittsburgh TV station in a comedy on Fox, the last of the broadcast networks to outline next season's plans this week to advertisers. Earlier yesterday, the CW said it had canceled the cult hit "Veronica Mars" and is trying to recover from a stumbling start with new series about the snobby rich, transplanted families , and a bounty hunter for the devil. Fox, along with CBS, is dealing from a position of strength. It will win this season among the coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic for the third year in a row, by its widest margin. Fox's biggest problem in recent years is finding momentum in the fall, when its prime-time schedule is frequently pre-empted for baseball. But this coming fall, it will have 14 nights of baseball, versus 26 last year. The drama "K-Ville," set for Mondays, focuses on a cop angry that his partner deserted him after Hurricane Katrina and willing to bend rules to catch bad guys. His new partner is an Afghanistan war veteran and more of a stickler for rules. It will be filmed in New Orleans, said Peter Liguori, Fox entertainment president. "The Search for the Next Great American Band" is Fox's attempt to spread some of the "American Idol" success to the fall. That hit's producers will be behind the new show, too. It will be paired on Friday nights with "Nashville," a "Real World"-type reality show about people trying to make it in the country music business. Another new Fox drama for the fall, "New Amsterdam," has some of the supernatural elements so popular in Hollywood this spring. It features a cop who was born in the 1600s and granted immortality, until he finds his true love. (AP)

Madonna has written a new song for the July 7 Live Earth concerts around the world , and the first million downloads will result in a donation to a climate protection group, Live Earth organizers said yesterday. The song "Hey You" is available for free download on Microsoft's home page (msn.com) , and the software giant said it would donate 25 cents per download to the Alliance for Climate Protection for the first million downloads. Madonna is among dozens of artists who have agreed to perform in concerts in eight cities around the world on July 7 in a bid to spur governments, corporations , and the public to take action on global warming. She will perform the song during her appearance at the concert in London. Other concerts are planned for New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro , and Hamburg, Germany. (REUTERS)

Johnny Depp (left) has a man crush on Keith Richards, who has a small role in the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Depp said he drew inspiration for loopy pirate king Jack Sparrow from Richards. "He was one of the people I admired for what he's done and how he's handled it," the 43-year-old actor tells Rolling Stone magazine in its new issue, on newsstands today. "Forty-whatever years of being this god. And he's just cool." The Rolling Stones guitarist agreed to play Sparrow's father, Captain Teague, in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the third installment of the blockbuster film franchise. (AP)